Doc. No. 75. 



81 



jano, the administrator of the port of San Juan del Norte, was driven, in 

 order to free itself from the responsibility which it has contracted in con- 

 sequence of the proceedings of its subaltern, the superintendent of BeHze^ 

 towards a functionary of this State. 



For this reason, in the communication to his Excellency the Minister for 

 Foreign Affairs, it was said that whatsoever error may have been committed 

 by the administrator, Q^uijano, in his altercations in writing and in words, 

 with the superintendent of Belize, they did not authorize the latter to 

 constitute himself the superior of the functionary, and, without any previ- 

 ous communication with this supreme government on the subject of the 

 pretensions of the (so called) King of the Mosquitos, or of the coniplaints 

 of the American or British subjects against that person, to remove from 

 his position by force, and with violation of the Nicaraguan territory, the 

 officer employed by the law, and subject exclusively to the instruction and 

 direction of this supreme government. 



The government of Nicaragua has the strongest grounds for denying 

 the existence of the Mosquito State. You, sir, know that sovereignty is 

 essential to such existence; and that the Mosquitos do not possess this 

 requisite, is proved by the declaration of the King of Spain on the 5th of 

 January, 1785, in the following decisive words: " The Mosquito Indians 

 inhabiting one of the provinces of Guatemala have been vassals of the 

 Crown of Spnn ever since the conquest and reduction of those domin- 

 ions; and although they some time ago yielded to the assistance and 

 instigations of certain English adventurers, who established themselves 

 furtively among them, they have several times solicited to be allowed to 

 return under the dominion of Spain, and it Avas finally conceded to them 

 that they should be kindly admitted to the reconciliation which they 

 desire. 



^^The rebellion of the Mosquitos was also aided by the insurrection of 

 many negro slaves belonging to the King, and to private proprietors in 

 the kingdom of Guatemala, who flying to the recesses of the mountains, 

 united themselves with those Indians, and made common cause with 

 them and with the English intruders on their territory, in order to main- 

 tain the liberty which they so much desired. 



^'From these indubitable facts it may be inferred, evidently, that the 

 Musquito Indians and the Sambos united with are subjects of Spain, and 

 that this monarchy has the ancient right of sovereignty over them, 

 especially as they have never, since their rebellion, been acknowledged 

 as independent, either expressly or tacitly, but, on the contrary, they have 

 been obliged to implore pardon for their fault of insurrection, and others 

 committed against their legitimate government, offering in return to expel 

 the English and all other intruders from their territory. Those offers are 

 substantiated by formal acts," (fcc. 



X In consequence of this ancient right of dominion, the Spanish authorities 

 established and sustained ports and settlements on the Musquito coast, 

 at Bluefields river. Black river, and Cape Gracias a Dios. At the second of 

 these places there was a large population and a garrison, with its com- 

 mandant, established by the Spanish government: the name of the officer 

 who performed these functions is now before us; he was Don Antonio 

 Echeverrias. At Cape Gracias a Uios was an administation of the treas- 

 ury, at the head of which was Don Jose Arisay Torres — first with eight 



